Little Girl Lost
by wildhoneychild
Summary: What would happen if Sophia didn't die, and was instead taken to Woodbury?
1. Chapter 1

Sophia Peletier's whole world came crashing down around her when the dead came back to life. She was barely twelve years old, still watching cartoons and sleeping with her teddy. And then one day, out of nowhere, her mommy and daddy were packing up as much as they could fit into the car and hurriedly driving off in the middle of the night toward Atlanta.

And they became part of a group, a makeshift camp set up off the highway. Everyone there was nice, and she even had a couple friends to play with that were near her age. She got settled into somewhat of a routine there, spending her days practicing schoolwork with Carl and his mom, and playing with dolls with Eliza Morales. Her dad kept grumbling that they shouldn't get too comfortable, shouldn't really trust these people. But it was hard not to, when they offered safety and companionship. Life became a little more normal.

Then one night, walkers stormed into camp and half of their group was attacked and killed, including her daddy. Sophia may have been young, but she wasn't oblivious. She knew her daddy wasn't a good man, and she resented all those nights she cried herself to sleep because he was drunkenly screaming at her mother, beating her black and blue. Being around him made her fearful. But she didn't want him to _die._ And catching a glimpse of her mother tearfully swinging an ax at her father's bloody corpse would forever remain etched in her brain.

Still, life went on. They found the CDC, and for just one night, life was good again. She had all the food her belly could hold, and games, and books, and her and her mommy slept peacefully for the first time in a very long time. Then the grim reality came that the CDC was set up for self-destruction, and they all barely made it out by the skin of their teeth. But Sophia felt that if she could make it through that, she could make it through anything.

It never got any easier, though. No one ever really got used to the stench of death, or the sounds of distant groaning, or the torn-apart bodies and overturned cars they passed on the road. No one could have predicted the herd though, the innumerable amount of walkers that kept coming and coming.

Sophia laid flat on the asphalt under a car, next to Carl. She lay paralyzed with fear, clutching her doll and shaking uncontrollably, as dozens of sets of rotting feet shuffled past. Although her family had never been very religious and she'd only been to church a few times in her life, she silently prayed with all her might. Her mother looked by in terror from a nearby car as they locked eyes.

Finally, it seemed like the last walker had made its way past the car. Sophia exhaled a sigh of relief. After waiting a few moments, she began to scoot her body out from under the car, toward her mother. Suddenly, a low growl came from out of nowhere as two straggling walkers spotted her.

Caught off guard, Sophia let out a yelp and tried desperately to scramble back under the car. The walkers dived to the ground with her, their hungry dead eyes fixed on their target, gaping black jaws clamping at the air. Sophia screamed and quickly pushed herself away, jumping down into the nearby canyon and running into the forest as quickly as she could, eyes fixed behind her for the walkers in tow.

She was abruptly stopped by Rick, who picked her up and instructed her to wait for him in a hidden hole by the river as he took care of the walkers. She nodded, although she didn't want him to leave her alone – what if more came back?

"Remember," urged Rick. "If I don't make it back here, I need you to go back to the highway, back to the others. Keep the sun on your left shoulder, you understand?"

Sophia nodded again tearfully, squeezing into the hole and watching as Rick drew the walkers away. She sat in silence, shaking uncontrollably, for what felt like hours. Finally, daring to breathe again, she poked her head out, looked around, and started to creep out of the hole. What had Rick said again? Her head felt fuzzy and she was tired and confused. Keep the sun on her right shoulder…. That must have been it. She tried to make her way back to the highway.


	2. Chapter 2

After walking for quite a long time, Sophia faced the sinking realization that she wasn't anywhere near camp. She was just going deeper into the forest. She quickly changed directions, and continued walking for a few miles, but seemed more lost than ever. She became panicked and frustrated as the sun began to set, quickening her pace and trying not to cry.

She stopped in the middle of a path and screamed, "Mom!" at the top of her lungs. "Dale! Daryl! Carl!" _Somebody, please find me._

The only response she got was from the humming of cicadas in the trees around her.

Sophia continued walking. A few times, she stopped, crouching on the ground, or leaning against a tree and closing her eyes. She began to nod off at one point, about to sink into unconsciousness when she was roused by a low, breathy growl coming closer to her.

Her eyes popped open to see a feeble walker with outstretched arms, approaching her and stooping to gnaw on her leg. Sophia screamed again, and began to kick her legs and trash her arms wildly. She delivered a kick to the walker's forehead, and sent him momentarily reeling. In that split second, she was able to skitter backward clumsily. She desperately glanced around for something to use as a weapon. She'd never done anything like that before, and the idea terrified her. But consumed with adrenaline and terror, she grabbed a heavy fallen branch, before lifting and swinging it at the monster's head.

He fell to the ground, but continued to groan and claw in her direction. In a moment of panic, she thrust the branch at the walker with all of her strength. It landed on his back, pinning him to the ground and rendering him immobile. She took the opportunity to take off running, accidentally leaving her left shoe behind, and she didn't stop until she finally collapsed, gasping for air.

A singular voice kept ringing in her head. Her mother. _Be strong, Sophia. Be brave. You can do this._

She panted and rested her forehead against her knees, allowing herself a moment of respite. A rustling in the bushes, however, jolted her awake and she took off running again, before finally falling back into a steady, fearful walk.

Sophia felt like she was going crazy, seeing shapes in front of her eyes and hearing things in the distance. Being alone in a dark forest at night was terrifying, even without the ever-present threat of being attacked. She kept her arms close to her, clutching her doll at a vain attempt for comfort, worried that at any moment a walker could come from any direction and sink their rotting teeth into her flesh.

She was exhausted, and every muscle in her body was screaming. She couldn't help but cry big crocodile tears, thinking that she really just wanted her mommy.

Still, Sophia soldiered on out of necessity, while still knowing she couldn't keep going for much longer. She was running on empty, and soon her muscles would give out. It wasn't safe to sleep in the dark forest alone, exposed. Miraculously, she came across an abandoned gas station off of a dirt road. At first, she thought she was imagining things, but as she got closer, sure enough, there it stood.

She cautiously examined the place before concluding that no one was there, dead or otherwise, and pried open the door with the broken lock. The aisles of the small store were mostly ransacked, with broken bottles strewn across the floor, and the vending machine smashed open. She managed to find a warm can of Diet Coke and a stale bag of chips. Sophia couldn't help but smile as she greedily consumed the junk food.

She sank down to the floor and examined herself in the moonlight to make sure she was okay. She realized with disgust that her right foot was covered in dark blood from kicking the walker in the face, and tried her best to clean up with a stack of napkins. She reassured herself that the group was going to find her soon, and laid her head down on the floor, using her rag doll as a makeshift pillow. As soon as she shut her eyes, she was out like a light, sinking into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Sophia awoke with a start to the sound of tires squealing into the parking lot outside. She blinked a few times, disoriented, not knowing where she was or what time it was. But then she lit up. It was them! The group! It had to be! She sat up, hugging her doll, and smiling with relief.

Then the door opened, and a gruff voice read off a list of items, a couple of other male voices chiming in. Sophia's heart sank. It wasn't her group. It was a bunch of strange men. Fear ran through her veins, and she tried to hide behind a shelf as best as she could.

The men made their way around the store, pulling things off of the shelves and examining them before tucking them away in plastic bags, or slamming them back down on the shelves. Sophia squeezed her eyes shut and drew her knees up to her chest, her heart pumping wildly. She could hear a set of footsteps stop at the end of the aisle, and then slowly come closer to her.

"Ho-ly _shit_."

Wait a minute, that voice was familiar.

Sophia opened one eye and looked up cautiously.

The man standing before her smiled a big, toothy grin that made her feel uncomfortable. "Well, hey sweetheart. How's about a big hug for your pal Merle?"

She just stared at him with uneasy eyes and backed away a little bit further. The other men with him walked over to Sophia, astounded at the sight of this little girl, alone in the middle of nowhere. Merle briefly explained how he knew her, adding that she belonged to "a shy little dame" and "her old man that loved to beat on her".

Although she had seen a familiar face, she didn't exactly feel comforted. She knew the rest of the group didn't like him very much at all, and he had always made her feel a little uneasy. She knew that shortly after Mr. Grimes joined them, Merle had mysteriously disappeared, never returning from a run. Her mom told her he had probably died. "If you ask me," she whispered. "I'm not losin' sleep over it."

Still, he was Daryl's brother, and she liked Daryl, so that had to count for something. Truthfully, it was nice to see another living human face, no matter who it was.

"What are you doin' out here all by yourself, honey? Did you get lost?" Merle inquired.

Sophia nodded slowly. "I-I got chased off by walkers and separated."

"You ain't bitten, are ya?" he asked, more seriously and cautiously. His free hand rested on the gun in his pocket. "No scratches or nothin'?"

"No." She briefly held up her arms and legs to prove that although she was dirty and scraped up, she wasn't infected.

A Hispanic man spoke up from behind him, tilting his chin toward her as he spoke. "Where's your group?"

Merle looked interested in the answer too. "You seen my brother?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but a tall, brown-haired man came forward, shook his head and peered curiously at Sophia. "That can wait. Right now, we're gonna get her back to Woodbury and look at her, make sure she's not hurt. Poor thing looks half-starved and exhausted."

Sophia just stared at the man, unsure how to respond. He gave her a warm, charming smile and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, pumpkin. My name's Phillip, and this is Martinez and Crowley – and of course, Merle. We have a town just a few miles away. It's safe, and there's a doctor there who can look at you. And there's other kids your age to play with. Would you like that?"

"I... I don't know... I want to find my mom and the rest of my group. I don't think I should leave."

The tall man, Philip, tilted his head. "Well, d'you know where you are? Where your group is? How to get back?"

Thinking of the previous night, where she continued to walk in circles through the forest again and again, but not finding her way back, Sophia bit her lip and slowly shook her head.

"Thought so. Come on, come with us. We'll get you cleaned up and I promise that we'll come back and look for 'em."

She had always been taught to never go anywhere with a stranger, lest she be kidnapped and terrible things happen. But that was then, and this was now. What more could happen to her? She knew in her gut that she didn't have a choice. She couldn't go back out there alone, defenseless, when she had no idea where she was. And who knew how long it would take before the group found her out here? At least these men had supplies, and cars, and they could help her find her way back.

She reluctantly agreed, still clutching her rag doll tightly, and followed them to their truck.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I am so so so sorry for taking so long in posting this update! I've had a lot on my plate with school starting up and my computer having issues. I hope you can forgive me, and thanks for reading!

* * *

The group had a huge, dirty army truck parked in front of the store. Sophia took a moment to gawk at it, before Martinez nudged her shoulder, and she followed them inside, hoisting herself up into the seat. She wondered if they were part of the military. Merle and Crowley tossed a few grocery bags full of the meager supplies they'd gathered onto the floor. Crowley sat in the driver's seat, and Merle and Phillip sat on either side of Sophia in the back.

"Now, honey," Phillip said calmly and slowly. "I don't want to scare you, but I'm gonna put this blindfold on you, okay? It's just standard, we do it to everyone. We can't risk people finding our camp and coming to hurt us. And we don't know you yet so we can't just put our trust in anyone. I hope you understand, we'll be back before you know it though."

Sophia's eyebrows pursed in discomfort, and she opened her mouth to protest, but what could she do? She lowered her head and Phillip was already pulling a black bandana over her eyes. The truck roared to life, and began chugging along down the dirt road.

As they drove, Phillip regaled her with stories of how great life was back in their community. He offhandedly mentioned that he had a daughter a bit younger than her. It confused her, because he switched tenses while talking about her. She couldn't tell if this daughter – Penny, was it? – was still alive or not from listening to him. She guessed that maybe he had recently lost her and was still a bit overcome with grief. She nodded politely, but her head was swimming with worries, and she was half-concentrating on all of the bumps and curves on the road. She drew her knees up to her chest and tried to breathe.

Before she knew it, the truck shuddered to a stop. Sophia tilted her chin up and pulled the bandana off of her face. The men disembarked, carrying their supplies. Crowley and Martinez gave a friendly nod to the people guarding the walls. Sophia jumped out behind them.

A few townspeople were milling about the streets, waiting to greet Phillip, and they stopped and stared at Sophia before Phillip put his hand on her shoulder and introduced her. "This is Sophia. We found the poor thing all by herself on our run, all tired and scared."

They exchanged surprised looks, but finally turned toward her and greeted politely. "How do you do?"

Sophia forced a halfway smile in response, instinctively shying away a bit.

"Sorry," Phillip offered. "She's worn out and scraped up. She's had a rough day. I'm taking her to see the doc."

"Oh, of course. Well, nice to see you." The woman gave her a nod, and the group was on their way, whispering together as they walked off. Phillip just smiled and disregarded their obvious gossip.

A young girl, probably six or seven, crossed their paths, chasing a beat-up soccer ball that rolled beyond her reach. She picked it up and stopped to wave and call out, "Hi, Governor!"

"How ya doing, Katie?"

"Good!" She grinned, revealing a few missing baby teeth.

A few other young kids about the same age approached Katie in search of their missing ball, giggling and playfully shoving each other. They also stopped and cheerily greeted him. "Welcome back, Gov'nor!" He gave them all a smile, and they scattered into the distance.

Sophia peered at him curiously. "Why do people call you the Governor?"

Phillip chuckled and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, it's just a silly nickname."

She just shrugged and tried to keep stride with him as he started walking briskly down the street.

"C'mon. I'll try to give you the full tour later. For right now, I'll give you the short version and then let you rest."

Sophia took in her surroundings. It was bizarre how _normal_ this place looked. Like one of those small historical towns she'd seen on TV. Once they'd passed through the gates, they were in an entire city, full of people – living people. They were bustling up and down the streets, chatting amicably, or busying themselves with work. The streets were lined with buildings, some more spruced-up than others. In the center of the little town was a lush green lawn with an American flag hoisted up on a pole, a little sun-bleached, but in good shape.

The only thing that separated this town from any normal town pre-apocalypse was the fact that despite how nice it was, it was clear that a lot of this stuff was clearly makeshift and a little worse for the wear. Some of the buildings had bullet holes in the doors, or broken windows that had been repaired as best as they could be. Not to mention, there were several men sitting along the wall with big guns, patrolling for any stray walkers.

Still, it was astounding. Sophia hadn't seen anything like that since leaving her home on that fateful, terrifying night when it all began, and trying to make it to Atlanta. She had been used to cramped quarters and little privacy, sleeping in a tent or on the couch of Dale's stuffy RV. She was used to foraging for food, and only occasionally getting to wash up in a creek. She had played with the Morales kids and Carl Grimes, but despite the laughs they shared, there was an ever-present threat of walkers around their camp. Some nights she couldn't sleep, lying wide awake and terrified of being attacked - particularly after her father was killed. These people looked like they didn't have a care in the world.

"Wow," she muttered in amazement. That was all she could say. It was just amazing to her that something like this was still around. Sometimes she wondered if their group members were the only survivors left. Obviously not.

"You like it, honey? Your camp got anything like this?"

She shook her head.

Phillip smirked. "Thought so." With that, he turned to face her and look her in the eyes. "Well, Sophia," he announced with one arm waving emphatically toward the spacious town. "Welcome to Woodbury."


End file.
